BRUNO Guimaraes has told of his appreciation after reaching a Newcastle United milestone - and the Brazilian star is now determined to lead the Magpies to another tilt at European football next season.

Bruno marked his 100th appearance in black and white with the winner at Craven Cottage on Saturday to extend Newcastle's unbeaten run to three games and keep alive their hopes of qualifying for the Europa League or Conference League.

The midfielder was desperately frustrated to lose two late points at home to Everton last week but was delighted United managed to get back on track at Fulham - with all eyes now on Saturday's crunch visit of Tottenham.

Eddie Howe last week stressed his desperation to keep Bruno at St James' Park this summer amid fresh talk of interest from PSG.

And the 26-year-old underlined his importance with his late goal in the capital, the perfect way to celebrate bringing up a ton of appearances for United.

"What a day it was for me," said Bruno.

"My 100th game for the club, sometimes I can't believe I've been here so long already. Since I joined the club, I think the team have played 107 games and I've only missed seven. It's a big thing for me.

"I'd like to say thank you to everyone at the club - the physios, Eddie, the staff, they're putting me in the best position to play well.

"And the supporters, of course. They have give me so much since I joined the club. Thank you, I really, really appreciate it. Scoring in front of them is always special. It was an unbelievable day for me, I will never forget it."

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Bruno hailed head coach Howe for his half-time team-talk that he said inspired the players to pick up all three points at Craven Cottage.

He said: "It was a big win. I thought in the first 20 minutes we were not ourselves and weren't good enough. But after Eddie spoke to us, I can't say too much but he spoke very well and put us in a good position. Eddie deserves the credit.

"I was very hurt about the last game (Everton), to lose the three points in the last seven minutes. But this was a big answer and what we're looking for in the rest of the season is to play in Europe again."

This coming Saturday's opponents Spurs put themselves in pole position for a fourth-place finish ahead of Aston Villa with a 3-1 win over Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

But boss Ange Postecoglou said: “I couldn’t care less about the race for fourth. What I care about is the way the team is progressing.

“I was pleased with (Sunday), it had a little bit of everything. We started the game well, not just the goal, I thought we controlled the game well."

Postecoglou has talked up the importance of Micky van de Ven after the defender's goal against Forest. Spurs have lost only one league game that the 22-year-old defender has completed since joining from Wolfsburg.

“He’s got a real appetite and determination for being the best he can be in every game,” said Postecoglou.

“It’s credit to him. We’re not the ones who are going to put any limits on his growth. We keep providing an environment for these guys to keep pushing themselves. Not just Micky but others will be dragged along as well because they’re all competing.”